


Talion Time

by MaeWestKozi



Category: Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor (Video Games), Middle-earth: Shadow of War (Video Games), The Lord of the Rings - All Media Types
Genre: Drabble Collection, Gen, One Shot Collection, Some Humor, Some angst, more tags to be added as needed
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-04-21
Updated: 2020-04-28
Packaged: 2021-03-01 23:53:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 11
Words: 2,554
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23775664
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MaeWestKozi/pseuds/MaeWestKozi
Summary: SmallShadow of Warsnippets and drabbles inspired by my playthrough of the game. Sometimes crossover with LotR, sometimes with other media - tags to be updated as needed.Title from what I've been saying when I'm off to play the game: "It'sTalion Time!"
Comments: 13
Kudos: 35





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> [](https://imgbb.com/)   
> 

Frodo cowers before the ring-wraith, invisible to the waking world even as the spectral form of the fallen Man raises its blade to strike the hobbit down. The next moment a ghostly dagger sprouts from the nazgûl’s forehead and sends the dark wraith staggering backwards as a figure swathed in a hooded cloak rushes out from the shadows and locks a broken blade against the ring-wraith’s own with a ringing clash.

For a heartbeat, Frodo is sure this figure is Strider - but their traveling companion’s battle cry sounds from across the hill-top as he wards other wraiths away with blade and fire, revealing that this Man is a new arrival.

“Quickly,” the new figure calls, knocking his foe further away with a heavy kick. “Run! I will cover your retreat!”

To Frodo’s ethereal vision, this Man summons a bow fashioned from green light, sinking arrows into the knees and elbows of the wraiths, pinning them to the ruins of Weathertop with unearthly speed. As they flee from the hill and Frodo removes the Ring from his finger, even in the real world does that longbow shine.

A spine-chilling wail follows them into the embrace of the woods - the wrathful cry of an enraged nazgûl.

_“...Gravewalker-!”_

\----

“I do not wish to alarm you,” Strider says softly, only a few hours away from Imaldris, “but we are being followed.”

“Is it the wraiths?” Pippin asks, eyes wide with fright. The other hobbits - Merry, Samwise, and Frodo wait with baited breath on the ranger’s answer.

“No,” Strider murmurs, looking back over his shoulder. “I believe it is the one who helped us escape them. ...A skilled warrior to have survived unscathed.”

“Do you know who he is?” Frodo wonders.

“...I think we are about to find out,” Sam adds as a cloaked figure steps out from behind a tree a distance away, and lowers its hood.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "I'll miss you, Ranger!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> How I picked my bodyguard for Gorgoroth... first time I encountered this behaviour!

Talion was crouched low in one of many thick shrubberies skirting a medium-sized uruk encampment, and searching with the otherworldly vision granted to him by Celembrimbor for the local Captain.

‘I cannot spot him from here,’ he thought towards the elvish wraith.

“I cannot sense his presence, either,” Celembrimbor agreed. “Perhaps we should move further in.”

Nodding, Talion drew Acharn, holding the shortened blade at the ready, and began to creep closer to a vine-laden partially crumbled wall. An uruk archer patrolled across the top, but it was almost routine by now to drag them over the ledge and into the sharp end of a weapon on their way to the hard ground.

But before he could start climbing – a sudden rustle, directly behind him.

“Aha~! Ranger!”

‘The Captain?!’ It was a thought echoed by Celembrimbor as they whirled around – it wouldn’t be the first time such an ambush had caught them flat-footed. Yet, such alarm proved unnecessary – it was instead one of their most recent recruits: a skilled hunter named Hûrza Man Tracker.

“I’ve brought you a little present,” the uruk grinned. He was holding a Worm in a firm headlock, cursed spear tip at the trembling peon’s throat. “This one _knows_ something!”

Glancing up towards the patrolling archer – who was now fortunately distracted by a brawl between two ologs opposite the ruin – Talion straightened from his crouch and approached the hunter and his captive.

“I can see that,” he dead-panned, accepting the ‘gift’ and placing a glowing blue palm against the Worm’s spasming face, taking the information of the Captain he was in the process of hunting from its chaotic mind.

Hûrza snickered and stepped back to avoid the spray as the lesser orc’s head exploded like an over-ripe melon. “Anything else I can do for you?” The uruk was preening in an almost cat-like way, pleased with himself for bringing Talion a present.

“No, Hûrza. That will be all for the time being.”

“Oh… alright then.” The uruk turned and began to slink away, almost as quietly as he had arrived, but turned and delivered one last parting shot, “I’ll miss you, Ranger!”

“A devoted pawn,” Celembrimbor drawled, amused. “Such devotion should be rewarded – it will serve to cement his loyalty and that of the hunters he commands.”

‘True enough,’ Talion returned silently. ‘I’ll promote him when we return to the fort.’


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Az-Lar Pain Seeker starts telling a story...

“Did I ever tell you about my first battle? It was pouring rain and-” Az-Lar Pain Seeker paused before letting out an air-shattering roar. “ _Graaaah!!!_ Caragors! Feel the strength of the beasts of Mordor!” The large spike-adorned olog bounded towards the approaching beasts with a whooping cheer, brandishing his huge mace.

Talion watched, impressed despite himself as the group of four cat-like beasts were swiftly brought to heel, and trotted docilely after the troll through the snow on the olog’s return.

“…You were saying something about your first battle?” Talion was curious – some insight into Az-Lar’s odd masochism would be welcome in helping him manage the eccentric olog.

“…” The olog did not reply, distracted by his newly acquired animal companions.

‘He’s not going to finish that story, is he,’ Talion sighed internally.

“Likely not. While more articulate than most of his ilk, Az-Lar seems to be the easily distracted sort,” Celembrimbor concluded.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ...This just happened to me in Seregost and I want to know how the story of his first battle goes! Will I ever find out lmao?


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Celembrimbor is obsessed.

Celebrimbor has tunnel-vision.

Conquer the wills of the orcs. Conquer the fortresses and armies of Mordor. Conquer Sauron.

The wraith is obsessed with this progression of goals. Other tasks or moments set aside to aid what remains of Minas Ithil’s survivors, of helping recover Gonodorian artifacts and relics for Idril – Celebrimbor chafes against these things until Talion frames them in a way to set them as necessary for ~~his~~ their goals.

Ever since the creation of the New Ring, Celembrimbor has been less elf and more wraith – obsessed and driven towards his goals with increasing fervor the closer he and Talion come to realizing them.

“Soon,” Talion murmurs – to himself or in an attempt to placate the wraith. “Minas Morgul awaits.”

Celembrimbor does not reply, but the thrum of the elf’s anticipation sends shivers down the ranger’s spine.

In the back of his mind, Talion imagines he can hear Shelob’s whispering words echoing…

… _Soon._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Went into a new area and Celembrimbor was all, "this region is remote, Sauron doesn't care about it. We don't need to waste our time here."  
> And I was like... but look at all the orcs??? Pretty sure uruk army outposts and fortress are a sign Sauron is at least marginally involved... explain that one, Celery. >:P


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Uruks are durable.

United in purpose, Talion and Celembrimbor bring their combine power down on the cowering Captain, freezing in that moment of domination as the creature is broken to their will.

“ ** _You will serve the Bright Lord_** ,” they thunder in one layered voice.

“Yes,” the uruk agrees, fear exchanged for fanaticism. “I will be your Chosen!”

…And then it registers… in a strange coincidence of timing, that a wayward spear has been stuck in the unfortunate Captain’s eye throughout this exchange.

Baffled, Talion lets the orc go with a command to, “Stay and fight-”

“I will obey,” shouts the uruk, charging into the bustling melee, spear-haft still jutting from his head.

“No wonder they call us ‘soft-skins’,” the Gravewalker muses. ‘Do you think he will eventually remove it?’ Talion adds the query silently towards the elven wraith.

“There’s no way of knowing, with orcs,” Celembrimbor replies. “Their ways remain as chaotic as ever.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [](https://imgbb.com/)
> 
> Don't think he kept the spear _stuck in his face_ but... the second it happened I knew I had to screencap it, haha.


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Times may change, but some things stay the same...

**Then.**

“Forlong, what’s gotten into you?”

The young ranger was sitting against a wall, knees pulled up to his chest. His senior, a stout man who had been stationed at the Black Gate for years was concerned about the lad – only twenty summers and sent to the posting of outcasts and exiles.

“…I,” Forlong swallowed. “…I called Captain Talion ‘Dad’ in training today.”

“… Pfffft!”

“Don’t laugh! Now he keeps calling me ‘Son’ and Dirhael is gonna kill me!”

**Now.**

“Argh – I’m hungry,” the uruk groans rubbing his belly as the scent of roasting meat wafts from the cooking fires.

“Hi hungry,” an unfamiliar voice remarks as a glowing hand pulls him around the corner and sends him to his knees. “I’m ‘boss’.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ...Like Talion's Dad!Energy.


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Loyalty beyond death.

Ad-Azar the Chunky was huge, even for an olog. He was an olog of few words, struggling with Westron and often relying on a smaller uruk to translate to and from the Black Speech. He was strong, feared nothing, and was highly placed enough among the ranks of Gorgoroth’s Captains to act as a spy.

Until he was unexpectedly defeated in his fighting pit match against and uruk with a gang of caragors.

‘I had high hopes for that one,’ Talion sighed, disappointed in his own scouting. There were ways to rig the fights, replacing the competition after an encounter with the sharp end of Acharn was the simplest.

\----

It was days later – all the Warchiefs destroyed or converted to the side of the Bright Lord – when Talion and Celembrimbor were performing one last inspection of their growing army before making the attempt to capture the fortress. Killing a few scouts circling the outer wall, they were interrupted.

“Surprise~! You thought I be killed! But you wrong… not even death can keep me from serving!”

Ad-Azar the Chunky had returned. Still large, still loyal.

“I can see that,” Talion remarked, stunned. “Your loyalty shall be rewarded.”

“Smash Overlord – big feast after?”

Talion bared his teeth in reply. “Precisely.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Gorgoroth has a Chunky overlord, now. And the best parties.


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Eltariel gains some insight.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I figured she was in the tags, should probably give her a snippet.

Eltariel watched warily as the ranger’s dead body sat on the tower’s flagstones.

The Man had been impressive in his battle against the nazgûl – it was a notable feat to face off against a ring-wraith, let alone all nine and drive them from the tower into the open in the process. The ranger was skilled and strong, and the odd powers of the elven spirit attached to him only made the potential consequences of his fall even more disastrous.

It was why she had chosen to strike him down rather than see the Witch-King’s curse take hold.

…It was also why she returned to watch over him until he revived, rather than leave his corpse at the mercy of the newly named Minas Morgul.

If he revived.

The tale of _The Gravewalker_ was an uruk favourite – she had heard several camps and scout telling stories of the ranger who could not die, but did not believe it until she had seen the way he shrugged off otherwise debilitating wounds. She would not believe it, truly, unless the ranger awoke from death.

Eventually, he did – a twitch of muscle, and gasping panicked breath as if caught in the grips of a nightmare, and the once-dead Man bolted awake and wary.

And his character shone forth when he brushed aside her questions -

_(“Do you feel pain? Do you suffer?”)_

\- with immediate concern over the city, the Palantir, and the tasks at hand.

_(…it was clear that the answers to her questions was, “Yes.”)_


	9. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Spider-bait.

Golm the Knower – bodyguard to a Warchief and a prime candidate for a spy in the enemy ranks. Immune to poison, but afraid of spiders.

Spiders, which Talion had been given leave by Shelob to summon to fight at his side. The terror they would inspire would make breaking the Captain and ensnaring him with the power of the New Ring far more efficient than a drawn-out battle.

Crouching high on a ledge overlooking the camp, waited for the prime moment to strike before sailing down with the aid of Celembrimbor’s elven grace to plant the jagged tip of Acharn deeply in the uruk’s sinewy flesh.

“ _Ah!_ ” Golm exclaimed. “I _knew_ it! Knew it, knew it, _knew it!_ ”

Tumbling away from the startled orc, Talion called Shelob’s children – a swarm of poisonous spiders. Golm immediately reeled away at their sight, dazed with fear.

“You are unworthy!” A caragor-riding uruk careened around the corner, charging Talion and knocking the ranger away from his frightened prey. The new arrival was wearing a hooded mantle mashed together of spider webs, and had painted an eight-pointed blob across his chest.

“Spider-bane! I was bitten by the spiders of Mordor, and I like it. I have embraced their venom; I have embraced their call! I am _one with the spiders!_ ”

“…Wait your turn,” Talion gritted out, heaving the caragor off his chest and shadow-striking his way towards the still dazed Golm.

A few seconds interspersed with heavy strikes and an arrow to the face sent Golm crashing to his knees and swiftly sent away, now a spy in the enemy ranks.

Turning to give the spider-orc his full attention, both the ranger and wraith were momentarily stunned at the sight of the summoned spiders biting and distracting the distraught uruk who wailed at the injustice of having to fight against its ‘brethren’.

“Idiocy aside, he seems strong enough,” Celembrimbor commented.

“One can only hope,” Talion sighed, approaching the self-sabotaged uruk and adding Dûsh of the Spiders to their growing ranks.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ...Dûsh was pretty strong. But still ended up completely pwned by an orc 15 levels lower than him in an arena battle because he was an idiot. Caragor mount, poison weapon, decent skills... and spent 80% of the fight not attacking. That venom must have rotted his brain.


	10. Chapter 10

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hey, you. You're finally awake.

Talion came to, slowly. His head was pounding, an ache building at the base of his skull, and his stomach panged with nausea from the uneven movement of … a cart?

Opening his eyes to a northern forest, early morning light filtering through evergreens and dispelling morning mist, he found himself propped up on a rough wooden bench in the back of a cart with other men – wearing rags, and with his hands tied. For a moment he thought he was caught among slaves for the uruks still fighting under Sauron’s banner, but the driver and escort were Men. Their arms and armor were of unfamiliar make, and adorned with the symbol of a drake-like creature on a diamond field.

“Wh..where?” His throat was parched – it was hard to get the word out.

A rough-looking blond sitting opposite turned to him, blue eyes kind but haunted. “Hey, you. You're finally awake. You were trying to cross the border, right? Walked right into that Imperial ambush, same as us, and that thief over there.”

The supposed thief snarled back, their face smudged with dirt and soot. “Damn you Stormcloaks. Skyrim was fine until you came along. Empire was nice and lazy. If they hadn't been looking for you, I could've stolen that horse and been half way to Hammerfell!” He turned to Talion. “You there. You and me – we shouldn’t be here. It's these Stormcloaks the Empire wants.”

The blond scoffed. “We're all brothers and sisters in binds now, thief.”

As the cart-driver called for them to, “Shut up back there!” Talion shook his head slowly in bewilderment. Empire? Stormcloaks? Hammerfell? None of these terms were familiar.

_I should have died for the final time… What in the name of Eru is going on?_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The thought of Talion getting isekai'ed is one that likes to bother me. This scenario struck me as something I wouldn't have to extensively research, and also as having potential for some excellent shenanigans.


	11. Chapter 11

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A warning.

“This ring is perfect,” Celembrimbor insisted, pride at his craftmanship clear in his voice. “It is _pure_.”

For all the wraith’s certainty, Talion was still shaken by the vision granted to him when he banished the nazgûl from the steps leading to Minas Morgul’s keep. A man – a good man – brought low and twisted by the whispers of Sauron in his ear, swayed by the power of the false promises echoed in the ring on his finger.

For all his undeath – Talion was still a Man. And the ranger, too, bore a ring of power.

In her own round-about way, Eltariel was trying to warn him of something. And it was something he could not bear thinking about even as the Ring Wraiths consistently brought that awful thought screeching forward on each encounter.

_(“You will join us! It is inevitable!”)_

The thick silence that falls between Talion and Celembrimbor after Eltariel’s condemnation of, “Pure _what?!_ ” serves nothing to quell those anxieties.

As they leave the steps of the keep, Talion cannot bear to look back at where the ghost stands.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just played through this scene today after fighting completing another quest with Eltariel. This moment really stuck with me as an important piece of character development and stpry-telling. The _look_ she gives Celembrimbor when he says the New Ring is pure is anguished - and the way she introduced the fight to Talion ("I will show you what a Ring Wraith is.") combined with the pity she directs at him after his vision and her dialogue as you follow her through the city... Eltariel is so damn _tired_. This elf needs a nap. And a vacation. And more non-nazgûl social interaction.


End file.
